India-ASEAN Defence Relations
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INDIa-ASEAN DEFENCE RELATIONS RSIS Monograph No. 28 Editor Ajaya Kumar Das RSIS MONOGRAPH NO. 28 INDIa-ASEAN DEFENCE RELATIONS Editor Ajaya Kumar Das S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies Note The opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Editor or of RSIS. Copyright © 2013 each author for his or her own chapter Published by S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies Nanyang Technological University South Spine, S4, Level B4, Nanyang Avenue Singapore 639798 Telephone: 6790 6982 Fax: 6793 2991 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.rsis.edu.sg First published in 2013 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies. Produced by BOOKSMITH ([email protected]) ISBN 978-981-07-5827-1 TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1 Introduction 1 Ajaya Kumar Das Strategic Perspectives Chapter 2 An Uncertain Trumpet? India’s Role in Southeast Asian Security 8 C. Raja Mohan Chapter 3 ASEAN’s Strategic Perspectives of India 33 Mely Caballero-Anthony Chapter 4 Soft and Hard Power in India’s Strategy Towards Southeast Asia 56 Ajaya Kumar Das Chapter 5 China in India’s Southeast Asia Strategy 96 Rahul Mishra Defence Perspectives Chapter 6 India’s Defence Strategy and the India-ASEAN Relationship 124 David Brewster Chapter 7 ASEAN’s Defence Strategy 146 Betwixt Vocabulary and Actions Bilveer Singh Chapter 8 Indian Air Force 168 Cooperation with ASEAN States Jasjit Singh Chapter 9 The Indo-Indonesian Defence Relationship 191 Towards a Convergent Mandala Ristian Atriandi Supriyanto Chapter 10 India-Malaysia Defence Relations 218 Enhancing Strategic Cooperation to Meet Common Challenges and Concerns K. S. Nathan Maritime Security Perspectives Chapter 11 India and the Indian Ocean 236 G. V. C. Naidu Chapter 12 India’s Expanded Maritime Mandala 260 Naval Intent and Strategy in Southeast Asia Lawrence Prabhakar Williams Chapter 13 ASEAN Perspectives on Naval Cooperation with India 281 Singapore and Vietnam Koh Swee Lean Collin List of Contributors 313 The RSIS Monograph Series Monograph No. Title 1 Neither Friend Nor Foe Myanmar’s Relations with Thailand since 1988 2 China’s Strategic Engagement with the New ASEAN 3 Beyond Vulnerability? Water in Singapore-Malaysia Relations 4 A New Agenda for the ASEAN Regional Forum 5 The South China Sea Dispute in Philippine Foreign Policy Problems, Challenges and Prospects 6 The OSCE and Co-operative Security in Europe Lessons for Asia 7 Betwixt and Between Southeast Asian Strategic Relations with the U.S. and China 8 Fading Away? The Political Role of the Army in Indonesian Transition to Democracy, 1998–2001 9 The Post-Tsunami Reconstruction of Aceh and the Implementation of the Peace Agreement 10 Post-Suharto Civil-Military Relations in Indonesia 11 People’s ASEAN and Governments’ ASEAN 12 Forgetting Osama Bin Munqidh, Remembering Osama bin Laden The Crusades in Modern Muslim Memory 13 Do Institutions Matter? Regional Institutions and Regionalism in East Asia The RSIS Monograph Series Monograph No. Title 14 Population Movements and the Threat of HIV/AIDS Virus at the Bangladesh-India Border 15 Collaboration under Anarchy Functional Regionalism and the Security of East Asia 16 Pandemic Preparedness in Asia 17 The 2008 Mumbai Terrorist Attacks Strategic Fallout 18 Islamic Education in Malaysia 19 Practising Strategic Foresight in Government The Cases of Finland, Singapore and the European Union 20 A Decade of Combating Radical Ideology Learning from the Singapore Experience (2001–2011) 21 From ‘Boots’ to ‘Brogues’ The Rise of Defence Diplomacy in Southeast Asia 22 ASEAN-China Free Trade Area Challenges, Opportunities and the Road Ahead 23 India-Japan Relations Drivers, Trends and Prospects 24 Climate Change, Migration and Human Security in Southeast Asia 25 Demilitarising the State The South and Southeast Asian Experience 26 Offshore Oil and Gas Safety and Security in the Asia Pacific The Need for Regional Approaches to Managing Risks 27 National Security Decision-Making in India ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This volume is the outcome of the Workshop on “India-ASEAN Defence Relations” held in Singapore on November 30, 2012. This whole project would not have been possible without the contribution of Professor Rajesh Basrur, who heads the South Asia Programme at the S. Rajaratnam School of Inter- national Studies (RSIS). He not only led the project from the beginning, but constantly provided inputs throughout the process from germination to publica- tion. I thank Scott Lai Laizheng, Edwin Thng, Pauline Liew, Amudha Mani, Tng Eng Cheong, William Lam, Sarimah Binti Raduan and Karim Bin Lampu for their support and excellent management of the workshop. The contributors are also gratefully appreciated for their commitment in revising their original papers in time and for ensuring a smooth publication process. CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Ajaya Kumar Das ndia’s shift to a free-market economy coinciding with the end of the Cold War created the necessary condition for its decision makers to launch the “Look East Policy” with the Association Iof Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) at its centre, thereby ending India’s isolation from Southeast Asia since the 1960s. Whereas its economic agenda dominated the new foreign policy initiative, India simultaneously engaged Southeast Asia in the area of defence. This came with the backdrop of the region’s discomfort vis-à-vis India’s rising military power in the 1980s, especially its naval power.1 The region as a whole through ASEAN welcomed India’s initiative and has steadily accommodated India’s objectives by accepting India as a full dialogue partner and a partner at the summit level. Also, in the political and security domain, India has been admitted into ASEAN- led forums such as the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), the East Asian Summit (EAS) and the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM) Plus despite initial reluctance on the part of some ASEAN member states. On the occasion to commemorate the 20th Anniversary of ASEAN-India Dialogue Relations, India and ASEAN declared that the “Partnership stands elevated to a strategic partnership” and have committed to raise security cooperation.2 In terms of bilateral defence relations, India and ASEAN states have engaged in joint military exercises, coordinated patrols, naval 1 Isabelle Saint-Mézard, Eastward Bound: India’s New Positioning in Asia (New Delhi: Manohar, 2005), pp. 280–286. 2 Vision Statement, ASEAN India Commemorative Summit, 21 December 2012, http://www.asean.org/news/asean-statement-communiques/item/ vision-statement-asean-india-commemorative-summit. 1 RSIS Monograph No. 28 India-ASEAN Defence Relations port calls, training and education, defence dialogues, exchange of high-level visits, defence supplies, etc. Among all, India-Singapore defence relations are the closest. They have held annual Singapore- Indian Maritime Bilateral Exercise (SIMBEX) since 1994 and have renewed the Air Force Bilateral Agreement in 2012 which allows Singapore Air Forces to conduct training exercises and exchanges with Indian forces on Indian soil. India’s defence agreements with Singapore, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Philippines have increased the scope of bilateral defence cooperation. In order to project itself as a benign military power, India has additionally engaged the Southeast Asian states through multilateral initiatives like Milan and the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium. Inde- pendent India has no history of territorial dispute or military conflict with Southeast Asia and, by harmonising with ASEAN norms for peace and security, is expected by some ASEAN states to play a larger security role. It is time to take stock. What are India’s strategic objec- tives in Southeast Asia? And how has it pursued them in the field of defence? Equally importantly, how do the ASEAN states view India as a strategic partner and in terms of defence cooperation? Do the expectations on the two sides match? And what is the trajectory of the relationship? How should policy makers think about the future? What are the implications for geopolitics of the Indo-Pacific region? These questions need more systematic and detailed examination in the face of enduring geopolitical complexity in the Indo-Pacific. This edited volume draws its chapters from the Workshop on “India- ASEAN Defence Relations” organised by the South Asia Programme at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, in November 2012. The chapters in the monograph are divided on three thematic lines. The first four contributors provide the readers with insights into India-ASEAN relationships from the general strategic perspec- tive from both sides. The second half of the monograph is composed of five chapters focussing on relations from a purely defence per- spective both at the bilateral level and at the level of India-ASEAN relations. The last part of the volume comprises three chapters that shift the discussion to maritime security. The volume thus discusses India-ASEAN relationships both from the general strategic and 2 Chapter 1 Introduction defence perspectives as well as from the narrower viewpoint of maritime security. All the contributors recognise the obstacles to closer defence relations between India and ASEAN states; and, while agreeing that